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i'm going to be a jr in high school this fall and have recently fallen in love with womens colleges. barnard is definitely a dream school for me since its affiliated with columbia and columbia was my dream school before i fell in love with womens colleges...sooooo...after some investigation, it seems that barnard is one of the most selective womens colleges...and i was wondering if someone would evaluate my chances through my course load...i kno its hard to eval without test scores and all, but could someone try? i'd be much obliged.

freshman year
keyboarding (applied tech credit required for grad)
patterns of communications
ancient/medieval history
conceptual physics
french 1
intro to business (the other half of the applied tech credit required for grad)
drawing 1
PE (required)
algebra 1

sophomore year
plane geometry
algebra 2
speech (required)
print/visual media (intro to journalism class)
enriched chem (weighted. by the way, i got a C in this class second semester...that's my first grade below a B ever in high school...will that be looked down upon? i mean, of course it will, but will it hurt me greatly?)
french 2
leadership PE
health
AP Gov (weighted obviously. but didnt take the test, is that not a good thing either? i ended up with a B in the class both semesters)
drivers ed

junior year
intermediate comp (hoping to get a recommendation by second semester to get into accelerated intermediate comp which im positive i can do)
going to be on newspaper and that means that i have to take a class called journalism (newspaper takes way too much time to meet only outside of school)
american lit
contemporary fiction
precalc w/trig
will be a student leader in leadership PE class (was a leadership student soph year and my teacher liked me enough to invite me back as a student leader)
enriched bio (weighted)
special topics:world history (weighted)
french 3

senior year
AP essay or AP comp/lit
either western lit or english lit...theyre the hardest english classes in our school
us history (its required, but i dont think i'll take it AP because i already have so many APs and history really isnt a big priority of mine)
AP Bio
PE (maybe a student leader again)
french 4 (weighted, planning to take AP french and sat II french)
now, i dont know if i should take AP calc ab because i already have 4 math credits and tahts what i need to graduate and most schools dont ask for more than that...but if i wanna be premed should i do it? im just not sure that i want to add it to my already humongous course load.

i think thats all as for courses

here are my ecs

star raiders (anti drug program for kids)
french club 4 years, officer for 2 years
national honor society
quill and scroll honor society (for journalism)
french national honor society
debate for one year (hated it so i might not even mention it)
trying out for speech next year, so two years
play piano
volunteer at hospital

i forgot to mention with my grades that ive had a 4.0 for three semesters and after a B and a C this last semester i have a 3. 875 or something like that. but im taking that newspaper class pass/fail and if i get a's in all my other future classes, which is practical for me to say, then i'll end up with something like a 4.077 around the end of senior year.

i just wanna know if im barnard material really, and whether its really worth even working toward it.

i guess the one little piece of standardized test info i could give u is that when i took the psat my soph year my estimated sat score was a 1100. im working right now on preparing for all those tests. im going to be taking both the old and new sat Is, the act, and about 3 or 4 sat IIs.

ok, thanks for all ur time.

By Jimt (Jimt) on Wednesday, July 28, 2004 - 07:34 am: Edit

Jeank,

First of all, the best way to find out whether you'd be competitive at a school is to ask the admissions people. You might send them an e-mail summarizing your stats, then asking them for suggestions. If you do so, it's important to write more formally, and to get somebody to proofread your e-mail, because doing so could make a good initial impression on the admissions officers.

That said, I'd recommend taking as many AP classes as you believe you can handle. If you took AP English Lang this year and Lit next year, you'd have two AP English classes, instead of just one. Also, even though you've already had 4 years of math, I'd recommend AP Calc, if you feel you can handle it along with your other classes. I'm assuming you'd take it senior year. The idea is to try to take the most challenging courses you can.

As for your activities, I'd recommend trying to concentrate a little more in one or two areas, because selective colleges are looking for people who specialize in something that they can continue in college. For example, if you don't major in French, you probably won't join the French club at Barnard. But if you have an idea what you'd like to study in college, you could find (or continue) activities related to that area. You don't have to decide your major now, only find something you can excel in and emphasize on your college applications.

It's good to study now for the SAT I; I recommend Gruber's and Barron's for their math sections. Also, for the SAT IIs, it's a good idea to take the tests immediately after finishing the corresponding classes.

I don't think the C will hurt your chances that much, but it's important to make the highest possible grades junior year. That year is very important for college admissions, as it's the last year you've finished when you apply.

You're smart to start thinking about these things now, so keep these things in mind.

By Skiowad (Skiowad) on Wednesday, July 28, 2004 - 07:45 am: Edit

We're allowed to ask if we're competitive? I didn't know that. It just seemed like they wouldn't want that because they would get so many requests and it would just eat up their time. Jimt, do they ever write back?

By Jimt (Jimt) on Wednesday, July 28, 2004 - 10:35 am: Edit

It probably depends on the school. Jeank, I should probably modify my advice. First, look on the admissions site for things such as average GPA and scores. If you don't find the answers, I suppose you could ask them whether it would be okay to send them a BRIEF summary. If they say yes, THEN you could send it. As Skiowad said, offices are so busy that not all of them accomodate this kind of request; I don't know about Barnard. I just believe that the admissions officers are the best people to ask--IF they have the time to answer.

You could post your stats at prstats.com, which would give people a fast and easy way to look at them.

By Jeank (Jeank) on Wednesday, July 28, 2004 - 11:14 pm: Edit

come now people...enlighten me with ur advice

By Skiowad (Skiowad) on Thursday, July 29, 2004 - 07:18 am: Edit

Most state and top privates wouldn't be able to. They receive so many, but LAC's are a different thing and they might respond. If Barnard receives less than 5,000 apps a year, then they probably will respond.

Jeank, I think you're on the right track to getting a fat one. But we can't really judge until you've taken standarized tests. I think their average is about 1350, so try to get at least that and you'll have a good shot. Aim for 730+ average on your SATII's. Stick with your EC's, gain some leadership in those that most interest you and you should be Barnard material.